After looking at the last section of 'Lord of the Flies' is this a fitting ending for the novel?

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Introduction

After looking at the last section of 'Lord of the Flies' is this a fitting ending for the novel? I think the ending is very fitting to this wonderful novel. The main point that is trying to be put across in the novel is the fact that evil is in everyone and no-one can escape this. The ending helps to portray this statement for the last time. I am going to look at different parts throughout the book and relate them to the ending. The novel starts off by suggesting that, 'This is a good island. We-Jack, Simon and me-we climbed the mountain. It's wizard. There's food and drink and-' There are many references at the beginning of the novel where it is said to be the next treasure island, made of total perfection. The book can be compared to the garden of Eden at the start because they think it is a wonderful place, just like paradise. Golding uses mythic references to keep us thinking throughout the novel. The novel then delves into the idea of this being ironic because as we see it is not perfect at all. Looking at the first paragraph we can see many changes the island has already undergone and how the novel suggests, subtly, how the crisis has started. Firstly the scar smashed into the jungle could portray the fact that the island is wounded from the beginning and this makes the island a place which is soon to be truly wounded. ...read more.

Middle

This is because humans cannot escape evil ... evil is in everyone. We are all savages no matter how much we like to admit or deny it when we are left to our own devices. Ralph being chased shows how the boys have changed so much from the beginning, when everything seemed perfect. The fire is also important in this part because the fire was not meant for rescue, it was instead meant for hunting Ralph. The fire is ironic in that from the beginning it was supposed to save and rescue the boys, but instead, it became a main link to savagery and destroyed the entire island at the very end. When the officer arrives he asks who is the leader is. This is a final test in the fight for leadership. Ralph steps out. This seems fitting because he has really been the true leader throughout because he has always been the moral, mature, considerate and sensible one to a certain extent. I feel he has been the more realistic leader throughout and helped keep the boys and island together for as long as possible because he has brains. He also stood forward because he maybe wanted to assert himself over Jack for the final time. He wants the people to believe he has been the leader and so he does this to make sure they will always remember him. Jack doesn't step forward because he perhaps knows deep in his heart that Ralph has been the real leader, for the right reasons, with the right answers and not just trying to gain power. ...read more.

Conclusion

Jolly good show. Like the Coral Island' This comment is most frustrating to the readers because they know he has no idea what goes on in the book. The readers have had this insight into what humans are really like, with evil trapped inside them. He helps to explain the motto of the novel further - being just another person who probably doesn't believe that there is evil in everyone or just hasn't come to terms with this fact yet. He, like many people, doesn't see how humans can become so savaged when they are left to their own devices. The whole environment on the island had changed so drastically, from before where we saw all the happiness of the boys expressed in their excitement of the prospect of no adults, to now when there is nothing but grieving and sadness shown on the island. 'The roar of the forest rose to thunder', with nothing but sad sights of nature left on the island it portrayed a war zone. The boys had changed from being perfect boys in, 'Shorts, shirts, and different garments they carried in their hands,' to, 'Brown, with distended bellies of small savages.' Everything had fallen apart, the nature of the island and also the boys themselves. I think the best quotation to finish is when Ralph thinks about the idea of, 'The strange glamour that had once invested the beaches. But the island was scorched up like dead wood.' This is a great line to end with because it sums up how the island has changed so drastically. It went from perfection to disaster because humans were left to manage themselves with no rules and support. Harriet Buffery 11R November 2002 1/4 ...read more.

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